Refuse to listen to the devil when he whispers to you: give me now,
and you will give tomorrow to God. No, no! Spend all the hours of your
life in a way pleasing to God; keep in your mind the thought that after
the present hour you will not be given another and that you will have to
render a strict account for every minute of this present hour.
– From Unseen Warfare, St. Theophan the Recluse and St. Nicodemus
We don’t want to believe that this is our last hour. Or even that we will have a last hour. Deep within ourselves we feel the eternality of our Soul, but confuse this with the temporality of our bodies. This, though, is a devastating confusion.
Do you want to understand your finitude? Sit with another who is dying. So tired. So broken. Body burning in the fight for the last moments. No more words. No more desires. Just the Soul standing before the Mercy and Love of God. This is what it is to be stripped naked. Fully revealed. Absolutely vulnerable.
This is each of us right now. This is our last hour. This is our last battle. This is our last breath.
Everything is passing away in the presence of our Creator. All is being revealed.
One Voice United 